Page 94 - Duct Tape Marketing

78 Part II: Sharpening Your Marketing Focus

Consider placing mirrors near the phones if your business relies heavily on
telephone contact. The theory is that people instinctively smile at themselves
in mirrors, simply because it makes them look more attractive. Beyond that,
a smile also makes a voice more attractive — and more natural, friendly, and
enthusiastic. You’ll be able to hear the difference — and so will the person on
the other end of the line.

Approaching your business in person

If a person walks into your business, looks around puzzled, and asks, “What
kind of a business is this?” you can make an educated guess that the drop-in
was unplanned and triggered only by a look at your signage or window dis-
plays. (Given the question, you may want to improve these impression points
to better address this obvious question.)

Making your voice mail more personal

A personal greeting, a meaningful message, and ߜ If at all possible, include the option of press-
a commitment to prompt personal follow-up are ing zero to speak with a real, live person.
all it takes to turn voice mail from a personality-
free automated and sometimes annoying fact of ߜ If you can’t fully respond to the caller’s
life to a pleasant and efficient means to present request within the specified time period,
yourself and your message when you’re other- call with a polite explanation and tell when
wise unavailable. Follow these tips: you will have a response.

ߜ Record a greeting that accurately reflects ߜ Voice mailboxes have limited storage capac-
the image of your business, update it regu- ity. Delete messages regularly to ensure
larly, and check for messages faithfully. that new messages can be stored.

ߜ Make sure that your greeting includes your ߜ Regularly call your own voice mail to see
company name (or your own name if it is a that it’s working and that the message is
desk line), gives an indication of when the current.
call will be returned, and invites the caller
to leave a message. The minute that your voice mail starts to sound
like that of a big, faceless corporation, move
ߜ Encourage detailed messages. “Please quickly to put your small business personality
leave a message of up to three minutes, and back into it. Customers choose small busi-
we will get back to you by day’s end.” If you nesses in large part for their personal touch.
encourage a lengthy message, the caller is Don’t let voice mail or other systems encroach
more likely to convey complete information, on that small-business advantage.
reducing the need for telephone tag after
the call.